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Obfuscation and Strict Online Anonymity

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On the Cognitive, Ethical, and Scientific Dimensions of Artificial Intelligence

Part of the book series: Philosophical Studies Series ((PSSP,volume 134))

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Abstract

The collection, aggregation, analysis, and dissemination of personal information permit unnerving inferences about our characters, preferences, and future behavior that were inconceivable just a couple of decades ago. This paper looks primarily at online searching and the commercial harvesting of personal information there. I argue that our best hope for protecting privacy online is anonymity through obfuscation. Obfuscation attempts to throw data collectors off one’s digital trail by making personal data less useful. However, anonymous web searching has costs. I examine two of the most serious and urge that they are worth paying in the light of the heavy toll the commercial gathering and analysis of our information takes on privacy and autonomy. I close with some thoughts on (1) how individual, rational decisions have led to a surveillance regime that few would have chosen beforehand and (2) the alleged autonomy of information technology.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Winner and especially Rule are critical of the notion of autonomous technology.

  2. 2.

    I would like to thank Jane Carter, Don Fallis, and Catherine Womack for their comments. Also, I presented earlier versions of this paper at the 2016 Information Ethics Roundtable, held at the University of Arizona, Tucson, and at the 2016 annual meeting of the International Association of Computing and Philosophy, held at the University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy. I would like to thank participants for their feedback.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hunter College Library and Hunter College Philosophy Department, New York, NY, USA

    Tony Doyle

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  1. Tony Doyle
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Correspondence to Tony Doyle .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Humanities, Texas A&M University Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, TX, USA

    Don Berkich

  2. Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici, Università di Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy

    Matteo Vincenzo d'Alfonso

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Doyle, T. (2019). Obfuscation and Strict Online Anonymity. In: Berkich, D., d'Alfonso, M. (eds) On the Cognitive, Ethical, and Scientific Dimensions of Artificial Intelligence. Philosophical Studies Series, vol 134. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01800-9_20

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01800-9_20

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-01799-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-01800-9

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